The Coldness of the Desert
by Ghost-of-Tatooine
Summary: This is a short one time story detailing Anakin's feelings and actions over the death of his mother.  Showing the conflict in his soul between the light and the dark.


Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars or this character, though I do like to play with him!  
>Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. This is just for fun and I'm sure not making any money on it!<p>

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><p>For a moment, the world ceased to exist.<p>

All that existed swam before his eyes in a red murderous lust.

Dark rage filled his soul; every fiber of his being consumed with one thought; one desire, even as he tenderly laid his mother's broken body on the cold hard ground.

Fury drove him, empowered him with an almost supernatural ability as he exited the tent, his weapon moving automatically, swiftly into his right hand.

For a moment, the only sound which disturbed the night's silence was the nearly noiseless thud of cleanly severed heads falling promptly to the ground. Taken by surprise the Raiders had little time to react, only now moving quickly towards an enemy who easily deflected their feeble attempts to defend themselves.

The Jedi moved rapidly throughout the camp, blind rage spurring him onward, snuffing out each life as though it were a small flame extinguished by the howling winds of an approaching sandstorm. The only disadvantage of the 'saber was that it was too efficient, too swift, too…. painless.

It was then that he sensed them; two males, certain that some sort of hideous demon visited their camp, attempted to sneak off into the night.

Anakin smiled coldly using Force-enhanced speed to quickly come upon his foe. "For my mother," he growled in a voice not entirely human, speaking in the primitive sounding language of the Tusken. The sharp jab from his well muscled arm in an upper cut sent one of the two sprawling onto the gritty sand. Anakin slowly followed the form as it tried to come to its feet and flee once more. "Oh no you don't." He tripped the creature, sticking out the toe of his boot as the animal tried to stand, following up with a sharp kick in the beast's ribs. "Starvation and beating wasn't enough, was it." He snarled furiously. "Your males violated her in the worst possible way."

He was beyond coherency of thought, beyond mercy. Reaching down, he grabbed the top of the Raider's head, pulling him to his feet and sending his fist into the creature's stomach. Anakin released his grip on the creature's head-covering and without taking his eyes from the contemptible animal writhing in agony before him, stretched one arm out behind him, wrapping his fingers around the throat of the other male who had tried to sneak up behind him.

Letting the body of his first victim fall to the ground, the padawan spun rapidly on his heel and slammed the other raider against a nearby boulder, his fingers never releasing their hold on the creature's neck. He moved in close, staring dispassionately into the Tusken's eyes. As the Raider neared the point of losing consciousness the Jedi loosened his hold, watching unsympathetically as it gasped for breath.

It was as the enemy felt that first moment of relief, that the teen pressed the palms of both hands along either side of the beast's head and slammed its head against the rock, feeling the creature's sticky warm blood pour down between each finger, listening with satisfaction as the bones in its skull shattered against the stone.

The dead body sank slowly down onto the sand.

A small whimpering sound pierced the stillness and the Jedi focused his attention on the remaining tormentor. Striding over towards the last living being to reside in this particular band of Raiders, Anakin glanced down, watching the creature attempt to crawl away from him, its back pressed against the rock, made cold by the desert's evening winds. The Tusken Raider's impassioned murmurs for mercy fell on deaf ears.

"I should let you live," Anakin told the beast, "bind you as you bound her; waiting in an agony so intense that you would beg me, not for life, but for death. Make you wonder how much pain your body could stand before it shut down. That's what you did to her, wasn't it?" He growled, not one shred of compassion in his voice. "You couldn't just let her die, could you? You kept her alive to see how much she could endure.

And," his boot connected with the side of his victim's head, "you took pleasure in her pain, in her broken body."

Disgust, loathing and hatred rose up in his throat; bitterly vile in taste, which threatened to make him vomit. The wounds on his mother's body gave evidence of the Raiders' abuse; beaten and raped.

"It would have been a mercy to end her life, but your kind knows no such word.

And neither," Anakin grabbed the arm of the Raider and pulled it to its feet, "do I."

Ripping off the rope that the Raider wore around its waist, the Jedi roughly bound the creature's arms behind its back and shoved it towards camp. Around the dying embers of the campfire, near the edge of the encampment, a small group of massiffs fought amongst themselves. At the approach of the two humanoids however, the animals lost all interest in each other and snarled, struggling against their chains.

"They look hungry, don't they?" He taunted, pushing the Tusken forward so forcefully that it fell to the ground. "More helpless creatures that you've enslaved."

The 'saber's blue blaze lit up the desert night as Anakin set the massiffs free. He walked slowly away, ignoring the Tusken's screams as the animals tore it to pieces...

Dazed, Anakin returned to his mother's side, falling to his knees beside her as he cradled her in his arms; his tears moistening her lifeless cheek.

Hopelessness welled up inside of him; he had not been able to save her.

Her body, broken and bleeding inside from the beatings the murdering beasts and inflicted upon her.

_They were standing outside their hovel, the sands of Tatooine drifting endlessly around their feet, but the background was engraved with a forest of trees; their leaves seemed to flutter from some unseen breeze and one could almost feel that cool air caress the cheek._

_It was a place of dreams._

_A place that Shmi had once described to her child as a bedtime story._

_A place which they often entered at the end of a tiring day when all they had known was the heat and dryness of the desert._

_It had become their sanctuary; this place of tall green trees and misty winds…_

'_Never forget who you are, Little Star,_

_Shining brighter than all the stars in the sky._

_Never forget how to dream, butterfly,_

_Never forget where you come from…_

_May my arms protect you and sadness forget you._

_May goodness surround you, my love; I have found you._

_Little star….'_

Dawn came at last, painting the sky in a splash of colors impossible to name.

The warmth of the new suns waxed harsh in their bright display while Anakin remained reluctant to move; if he did not stir perhaps he could convince himself that this was merely a dream. But no nightmare could ever be as terrible as the moment he had lost her.

Carefully wrapping her body in his cloak, he knew that it was time to go.

Anakin did not glance at the dismembered bodies of the sand people which littered the ground at his feet; all he knew was the sad burden he carried in his arms, the lifeless body of the gentlest person he had ever known.

He had suffered so much; left so much behind to try and mold himself into the perfect Jedi and for what?

He had been helpless.

For all of his powers in the Force, he could not accomplish the one thing which meant everything to him.

'I will come back for you.

I promise.'

Those childhood words echoed in his mind, their tone harsh and accusatory.

Once, he had promised to save her; to free her.

But it had been a lie


End file.
